As a long-time truck guy, I fell into that trap as a sort of default to convention. When you hang around motorcyclists long enough, and when the job calls for transporting multiple bikes at a time, you get a truck. The two go hand in hand. Pretty quickly, however, you realize some of the downsides to truck ownership when it comes to hauling bikes: high load heights, and having your stuff exposed to the elements – and prying eyes when you’re not around. In my particular case, I had drilled my truck bed to accept a chock system specifically for securely loading and strapping two motorcycles without having to thread a strap through the other bike’s front wheel.
Maybe it’s a result of me getting older, but I wanted to make my life easier. I wanted a van. So out went the truck, in came a Ford Transit, and my first order of business was getting it setup as my moto hauler. What I didn’t want, however, was to drill any holes or make any permanent changes that couldn’t be reversed later because, inevitably, when you own a van you become the designated people mover, too. In my case rear seats and motorcycles need to be interchangeable.
Lastly, while I like the idea of keeping the bike(s) secured during transport without putting any load on the forks, the nature of this job means there are different motorcycles we’re hauling all the time. Also, refer back to my desire not to drill any holes in my van. So, those options were out.
Necessity is the mother of invention, as they say, and Scott Corgiat, being the inventor that he is, had a need for something he couldn’t find anywhere else. In fact, he was in the same boat as me. He wanted a secure way to keep his two-wheeled toys secure in his van without drilling any holes. Being handy with a welder, he came up with a simple creation, the Bolt It On wheel chock system. Genius in its simplicity, the Bolt It On chock system is comprised of a bar with pre-drilled holes. Various kinds of wheel chocks and hooks, all of which Corgiat and his team fabricate in-house, slide into those holes and create a space for your motorcycle’s wheel to reside without fear of turning while the van is in motion. A support at either end lifts the bar to the correct height and distributes the weight of the tie-down straps as motorcycles get tightened down.
The real genius of this design comes in the way the system stays in place. Since virtually every van has some sort of anchor and/or loop on the floor, the Bolt It On system uses J-hooks to attach to those anchors. At the top of the J-hook is a thread that goes through the main bar. A screw-on fastener keeps the hooks tight. In the case of my van, the anchor originally used for the bench seats proved to be the perfect spot to place the hooks. Screw down the two hooks and the system is complete and ready to use. If I need my van for people hauling again, simply unscrew the two J-hooks and pull the whole thing out. Simple, easy, and completely reversible without doing any permanent changes to my vehicle. This is why I spent my own money and bought the system you see in these photos.
Each Bolt It On system is made to order right here in the US of A in Paso Robles, California. The steel tubing is welded together by Corgiat’s team of welders and sometimes, when he’s not busy fielding phone calls from nagging motojournos like myself, he’ll flip his helmet down and weld up a system with his own two hands. For my particular system, I’ve got the standard sportbike chock, a roll-in chock, and two angled chocks. All of them come with hoops at either end to attach tie-down straps. I also threw in an additional hoop to put in the middle of the bar.
With the bikes secure, driving around couldn’t be easier. The bikes stay locked in place, and so far anyway, I haven’t loaded a motorcycle that’s been anywhere close to damaging the side of my van. The system is solid, sturdy, and secure. And did I mention it’s completely removable?
More than just a chock for motorcycles, Bolt It On also has accessory adaptors to hold bicycles (especially mountain bikes, Corgiat’s other hobby) in place. Other options like the Gear Pole snap into place on the main bar and provide a handy place to hang jerseys or helmets.
